When Bombardier began working on developing the new C Series aircraft, the company wanted to not only make sure that the finished product was as fuel efficient as possible, but also that its lifecycle environmental impact was as clean as possible too. To prove that the C Series was as environmentally friendly from the beginning to the end of its lifecycle, Bombardier put forward the C Series project to the Swedish environmental declaration programme, International EPD. In September 2016, Bombardier published the Environmental Product Declaration, which was audited by an independent third party. The EPD bases its conclusions on the CS100 aircraft around verified lifecycle analysis data and discloses information on its environmental performance, allowing both airlines and the public to get a clear view on the real impact of the CS100 and how Bombardier is committed to ‘eco-design’.
Case Study
C Series environmental credentials
When we discuss the environmental performance of aircraft and engines, we often tend to think it terms of its operational fuel efficiency. While in-service performance is certainly important (and modern aircraft have come a long way in terms of fuel efficiency over course of the last few decades), what is often not considered is the environmental impact of the product itself: how it was manufactured, the supply chain and how it is decommissioned at its end-of-life. These aspects, however, can be just as important.